"I understand. Thank you, Eolyn."
At this point, Eula only knew Lin Feng by name. There was no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Lin Feng had orchestrated this conspiracy; perhaps he really had just gone traveling and knew nothing at all about what was happening in the City of Mondstadt.
Eula wrote down the events of her day in a letter and mailed it to her pen pal, the Abyss Prince.
After receiving the letter, the courier placed it at the designated location for the Abyss Mage Big Wise.
The next day, the courier returned to the designated spot and retrieved a new letter.
...
At noon that day, Eula found another letter in her mailbox.
It read:
"I suspect that the man named Lin Feng belongs to the Abyss Order. He's simply trying to lure Noelle into joining the Abyss, and thereby force you to leave the Knights of Favonius so as to weaken the Knights' strength.
By the way, there is also a group of knights in my country. I think someone like you could easily make it to the rank of captain in this order—why don't you come to my country instead?
As a side note, this group of knights is called the Abyss Order Knights, and I founded it with my own hands, you know."
In short, apart from omitting the fact that his own name was Lin Feng, Lin Feng had written practically everything else in the letter.
Eula replied immediately, firing off a sarcastic remark in her letter about how terrible the name "Abyss Order Knights" was.
Over the next few days, Eula and Lin Feng kept writing back and forth. Lin Feng frequently condemned the people of Mondstadt in his letters for how they treated Eula, while Eula often defended them, arguing that her ancestors had brought this upon themselves.
...
Today, Eula was once again spending the entire day idling about. Her only joy lately was writing letters to this pen pal who called himself the Abyss Prince.
This person claiming to be the Abyss Prince seemed to know an incredible amount about the Abyss. He had told her a great deal about the Abyss Order, and even mentioned things like how Khaenri'ah had transformed into the Abyss Order.
It made Eula wonder for a moment if he really was the Abyss Prince—though upon second thought, how could that possibly be!
Today, Eula went to Diluc's tavern, Angel's Share, because it was the only place left in all of Mondstadt that was still willing to sell her fine wine.
Eula pushed open the door and stepped inside. The moment she entered, everyone in the tavern turned to look at her.
Feigning indifference to their gazes, she walked up to the bar and asked Diluc for a few glasses of fine wine.
"Eula, if you ever need my help, let me know anytime," Diluc said in a low voice.
Eula shook her head. "I'm fine."
"That bunch in the Knights of Favonius are insufferable for precisely this reason," Diluc said. "If you ask me, Eula, you'd be better off quitting the Knights. My Dawn Winery happens to be short of a captain to transport cargo."
The caravan belonging to Diluc and his father had once been attacked by monsters. The monsters were immensely powerful, and Diluc had been unable to defeat them at the time. In that critical moment, his father—who possessed no Vision—suddenly unleashed an unprecedented, evil power that defeated the monsters. That power was none other than a Delusion.
After using the power of the Delusion, Diluc's father suffered from its backlash and died right before Diluc's eyes. Yet the Knights of Favonius had covered up the truth of the incident, publicly claiming that Diluc's father had simply died in an unfortunate accident. Their stated reason for doing so was to uphold the reputation of the Knights.
And what the Knights were doing to Eula right now—wasn't it an exact replica of what had happened to Diluc's father back then? Because of that incident, Diluc had quit the Knights of Favonius.
"Thank you, Diluc."
Eula accepted a bottle of wine from Diluc, found an empty table, and sat down.
She opened the wine herself, her movements carrying a natural, aristocratic elegance.
After drinking some of the wine, she opened the letter the Abyss Prince had written to her today. She glanced over it, a pretty curve forming at the corner of her lips.
Just as she was about to put the letter away, a commotion broke out around her.
A strange man suddenly snatched the letter from Eula's hand, held it high above his head, and shouted at the top of his lungs in the tavern:
"Look here, everyone! This is proof that Eula is colluding with the enemy! The person who wrote this letter actually calls himself the Abyss Prince—that name alone tells you he's no good!"
Some of the people present understood what the word "Abyss" implied and immediately chimed in. But many more had no idea what the Abyss meant; they simply wanted to use this as an excuse to attack Eula.
Diluc, standing nearby, frowned. He certainly knew what the Abyss was, but he knew even better that Eula would never do such a thing.
"If you people are looking to pick a fight, my tavern does not welcome you."
For a moment, everyone in the tavern fell silent. The threat in Diluc's words was unmistakably clear.
However, the man who had snatched Eula's letter bolted outside. Rushing out onto the street, he yelled to the passersby, "Come and look! I've got proof that Eula is colluding with the enemy!"
At this, Eula's brow furrowed deeply. A dense aura of Cryo elemental power radiated from her entire body, and even the fine wine in front of her began to freeze over with a layer of ice.
She immediately gave chase and snatched the letter back. Her reason for getting angry was very simple: she simply didn't want the letter written by her friend to be soiled by such a petty scoundrel.
By now, a growing crowd had gathered. Upon hearing what had happened, the onlookers immediately began to curse Eula, dragging the Lawrence Clan into their insults as well.
The crowd grew larger and larger, eventually drawing the attention of a nearby patrolling squad of the Knights of Favonius.
...
Acting Grand Master Jean was still inside her private office, handling various official duties.
Suddenly, someone knocked open her door and said urgently, "Acting Grand Master Jean, you need to go see this! Something terrible has happened—someone in the city is claiming they've obtained proof that Eula is colluding with the Abyss Order."
Jean froze, and the pen in her hand nearly dropped to the floor.
"Take me to see it."
By this time, the Mondstadt Plaza was filled with angry shouts denouncing Eula. Two knights who had once worked alongside Eula stood shielding her behind them.
Looking out at the citizens, Eula suddenly felt a profound sense of pathos. The very people she had once wished to protect were repaying her like this.
At the thought, a mocking curve could not help but form at the corner of her lips. She was laughing at how naive her past thoughts had been. She had actually wanted to change Mondstadt's view of her through her hard work in the Knights of Favonius.
"Everyone, please quiet down." Acting Grand Master Jean hurried onto the scene.
Someone handed the letter to Jean.
Jean read through the letter carefully. Most of the content consisted of expressions of concern for Eula. Only a very small portion spoke ill of the people of Mondstadt, saying they were too ruthless toward Eula and advising her to leave.
Yet none of that was the crucial point. The most critical part was the name of the sender: the Abyss Prince.
Of course, this could simply be understood as a pen name, but the emotions of the people of Mondstadt were unstable right now; simply calling it a pen name was unlikely to convince the crowd.
Jean turned around, facing Eula directly with a solemn expression.
"Eula, as long as you can tell me who the other person is, I can prove your innocence."
"I don't know," Eula said softly. Her heart had grown somewhat cold toward the people of Mondstadt.